Who Won the Weekend? Don’t Worry, We Got You, Fury

He talked a helluva game coming in, and surpassed the hype with a superb display of ring generalship in California on Saturday night. Yep, Tyson Fury Won the Weekend…

Though Boxrec will state for the record that he fought to a draw with Deontay Wilder on a Showtime PPV tango, most all who watched saw something else—Fury befuddling the Bronze Bomber for most minutes of most rounds, save for a few times when the Wilder power detonated properly.

Don’t take my word for it, read what the NYF squad said when asked Who Won the Weekend.

“I don’t believe Tyson Fury won the weekend– I know he did, along with that fight,” said John Gatling. “Being at an event provides a perspective that cannot be rendered the same from afar, and I’m not so sure two judges weren’t somewhere in Scotland drinking scotch and chasing it by sniffing coke. Fury completely befuddled Deontay Wilder, myself and all privileged enough to see that man demonstrate courage and an honor so rare, that somewhere, the great Muhammad Ali tips his cap for the way he rose following a 12th round knockdown more thunderous than “The Greatest” endured in the 15th against Joe Frazier. I suspected Fury was a good man, but now I know him to be a great one. He may not go to the Hall of Fame, but if only for one night, what a privilege it was to witness greatness and a most unlikely role model.”

And, who, Abe Gonzalez, won the weekend in your eyes? “It was a split draw between Aleksandr Gvozdyk and Tyson Fury. “The Nail” went into Canada and defeated Stevenson in what was a dominating performance with some moments that almost led to a Stevenson KO. It was a great fight and I’m glad it didn’t go to the cards as all of them had Stevenson ahead in the fight. Tyson Fury did exactly what I said he would do and put on another championship performance. Although he was knocked down twice, he dominated the fight and should have deserved the decision. Both Fury and “The Nail” both deserve to be recognized as the winners of the weekend!”

“Tyson Fury won the weekend! What am amazing performance by the lineal heavyweight champion of the world,” said Kelsey McCarson. “Both fighters really fought hard, and I’m so happy for both to have been involved in one of the most exciting heavyweight title bouts in history. Like many, I was certain before the bout Fury that was the better boxer going into the fight, but I wasn’t convinced he could turn in a peak performance after being out of boxing for almost two years and fighting the kinds of comeback opponents he faced. But Fury once again proved he’s not like any other fighter ever.”

“Having slept on the decision, it’s hard and raw for me to believe that was the decision handed last night,” said Hamza Ahmed. “The split draw was a robbery, you can’t logically and rationally make a case for it. That said, I didn’t want to pick fighters this week because Abe and Chris have already picked the (surefire) candidates so for me, the 2 winners this week are – 1) Frank Warren – he’s got a heavyweight right back in contention but the fact that that fight ended in a draw means a rematch. And that means dollar bills. The rematch will probably take place next May-ish which means once again, him, Fury and Wilder will overshadow Joshua’s April bill, which is what Warren wants. What was initially tit-for-tat has spilled over into a full blown war. Over here in the UK, we’ve got this ridiculous beef between Hearn and Warren and it’s actually come to a point where on 22nd of December, there will be 2 PPV cards on at the same time, each for around $40. That’s never happened before over here, 2 PPV cards on at the same time. 2) Teddy Atlas – he was pretty much written off following Bradley’s comprehensive loss to Pacquiao in their 3rd fight, with many blaming Atlas’ overthinking and over-meticulousness being the reason for Bradley’s downfall. This time, he won in a big way, leading Ukrainian Gvozdyk to a world title, retribution after what had happened years ago with Bradley. Atlas was absolutely perfect in the corner and told Gvozdyk what to do, when to adjust and how to do so without ever overloading his mind with information. It’s a feel good story for one of boxing’s eccentric yet enigmatic characters.”

“For me it has to be Tyson Fury,” said Chris Glover, “narrowly beating Gvozdyk. I expected Father Time to catch up to Stevenson and it did, he was beaten by a great fighter in Gvozdyk but our prayers are with Adonis Stevenson first and foremost. Tyson Fury, what a performance and what a heart. The heavyweight division is back and the Gypsy King is leading the pack for me as still the lineal heavyweight champion of the world. Draw may have been the result, but that’s the greatest comeback in heavyweight boxing history for me. Based on that, Tyson Fury wins the weekend.”

No contest for me—The Gypsy King won the weekend. You’ll notice he wasn’t crushed by the draw call—one’s instinct to get salty can be ameliorated right quick when you realize that the opportunity to render the right verdict next time will come with another bucketload of moolah. Me, I didn’t see the epic battle many did, interestingly enough. Too much waiting and feinting and looking for perfect openings had too many rounds too lacking in action…but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t left mightily impressed with Fury’s ring generalship.

I was in a night-spot, sitting next to ex champ Hasim Rahman, as this fight played out—I called fights in San Antonio which ran on Facebook Fightnight Live—and when it was over, we agreed, all due credit must be afforded to Fury.

His skill set is considerable, and though he won’t convince everyone of that fact, some will want to tear down Wilder rather than give the Traveller the credit, getting up from that two-piece in the 12th gave fierce testimony to his courage and toughness reservoir. Tyson Fury won the weekend…

Now, I must offer the counter part to that call. Alejandro Rochin lost the weekend. Bad card, Rochin. Real bad card. 115-111 Wilder was not in the realm of reason, not to my eyes, and I’m not alone. Your card helps lend credence to the conspiracy theories which say that a draw call was almost mandated, because promoters needed to have the way paved for a lucrative rematch. And, those that have followed the sport for a spell know that sort of thinking can’t even be dismissed as a conspiracy theory. We have to be careful about slinging accusations, of course, without proof it’s not fair to go that route…but Rochin saw a fight that very, very few others not aligned with the Wilder squad did. Put him on the list, the long list, of arbiters who need Lasik surgery…and a hard look at their future assignments. You lost the weekend, Rochin.